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Alex Smith....Has to be done...game 3...what do you think?

Been a lot of talk about Alex Smith here on Chiefscrowd since we traded for him.

Some say we paid WAAAY too much for him.

Some say he is Matt Cassel 1.2

Some say he is a "good game manager".

But I think it is only right that until we finally reach a consensus about him that we disect his play in every game until we reach an overwhelming conclusion.

So here are my thoughts.......

22-35. 63%

Net passing yards........248

Yards per attempt..........7.08

Yards per completion.........11.27

Interceptions....................ZERO

Sacked........................5 times for a loss of 25 yards

Them's the numbers. Here's what I think.......

Alex Smith is a good QB. Give him a great team and you will go a long way.

He is no star. He's just a decent+ or maybe decent++ quarterback. He won't win you a whole lot of games on his own but he won't lose you any games.

Lots of quarterbacks like that in the NFL.

Here's what makes Alex Smith a little different from so many other "decent+" quarterbacks......

Alex Smith is a "clutch" quarterback. He can have a lousy game and get chased all over the field, but after throwing no INTs, he will put together one clutch drive when it really counts. He'll lock the lead away or maybe even GOD FORBID get you that go ahead score.

I LIKE Alex Smith.

I don't think he is going to win us a SuperBowl, but I think he is going to be an important part of making our Chiefs respectable again...and maybe get us a playoff win or two.

It's Alex Smith! His .815 winning percentage (27-5) is the best in the NFL. Peyton Manning would be slightly higher at .833 (15-3) but he misses the list with only 18 starts. Still, it's pretty close. Smith has played 14 more games than Peyton in that stretch and only lost 2 more!

Say he lacks arm strength, he can't make the big plays, he's too conservative. Call him a "game manager." None of that matters. All Alex Smith does is win football games.

and ...

***Official Chiefs Crowd Game Thread Starter***

This space is reserved for something that has nothing whatsoever to do with MatthewsChiefs. (Whoever THAT is!)

You can do anything you want with statistics. " yards per completion, 11.27" but he completed only one downfield pass of more than 10 yards. It was inflated by yards after the catch. " interceptions = ZERO". I would hope not. It would be very sad if he was interception prone on dink and dunk passing. " Sacks = five" would be a lot higher if he had to hold the ball any longer in an attempt to actully complete a downfield pass. " 22 of 35, 63% ". 1 of 4, 25% on downfield passes. And you did forget, touchdowns=zero. Now I know we're not playing in a fantasy league, and we are 3-0, but ultimately our goal is to win a division and Super Bowl. Until i see some downfield accuracy, I will continue to have my doubts that this is anything more than a nice three game stretch. We are winning because of our defense and turnover differential. How long can we continue to have NO turnovers. Can anyone name off the top of their head a Super Bowl winner this century without a marquee quarterback and highly ranked offense ... oh ... ok ... Trent Dilfer. But I would so rather have Trent Green behind center than Trent Dilfer ... or Alex Smith for that matter. Don't get me wrong, I like Alex Smith, and was at the game on Thursday night defending him from the Philly thug verbal abuse and wearing my red proudly, but I want to see us win it all within the next few years.

I took a statistics class in college back in the day when computers were great big behemoths and were programmed with punch cards. The one thing I learned from that class is that anyone with half a brain can twist the statistics to make them "prove" anything you want. I am not trying to do that.

My purpose in this thread was not to say Alex Smith is great. Nor was it to say Alex Smith is mediocre at best. I wasn't trying to make any point at all. I'm just trying to get a discussion going on what has been a hotly debated topic since we traded for him. No matter what I or anyone else says, we are probably going to have Alex Smith as our QB (if he is healthy) for at least this year and next. So I think it is appropriate that we take a look at him every game and see how he has done....both in that game and cumulatively.

I really should have put some cumulative stats in my thread starter post last night, but it was late and I was tired after work. So I am going to update the stats a little bit.....

Smith vs. Iggles.....

22-35. 63%

Net passing yards........248

Yards per attempt..........7.08

Yards per completion.........11.27

Interceptions....................ZERO

Sacked........................5 times for a loss of 25 yards

Smith cumulative since the start of the regular season......

64-105. 60.95%

Net yards passing....669 (223 per game)

Net Yards per attempt......6.62

Net Yards per completion.......10.45

Interceptions....ZERO

Fumbles.............1

Fumbles lost.........ZERO

Sacked......10 times for a loss of 51 yards.

Record.....3-0

Again....I am not trying to say Alex Smith is great. I'm not trying to say Alex Smith sucks. I am NOT MMO/MMH and I'm not trying to use "cherry-picked stats" to prove something. I'm just trying to get everyone to have a reasoned conversation about the guy who is (like it or not) likely to be our quarterback for at least this year and next.

Looking at the stats it seems to me that Alex Smith is a competent quarterback. Maybe a little more than that but not a whole lot. And certainly he is not one of the "all time greats". He is not either of the Mannings, or Montana or, or, or. Lots of quarterbacks out there over the years that were WAAAAAY better than Alex Smith.

But it also seems to me that if you put a real good team around Alex Smith you are going to win a lot of games....maybe even some playoff games.

Perhaps most importantly, it seems that Alex Smith while he may not win any games single-handedly he certainly isn't going to lose any games all by himself either. (We've had quarterbacks that could do that).

Lastly, I'm starting to think that "in the clutch" Alex Smith may be a very good quarterback. Against Dallas he came through with the drive we needed to protect the lead. He did the same against Philthy. Both those games he was not much impressive through most of the game, but both times he put together (or perhaps I should say the team put together) a drive when we needed it most.

Is it possible that we have one of those magical quarterbacks that plays to a whole different level when the game is on the line late in the 4th quarter?

All in all, 3-0.....I'm happy with Alex Smith so far. But I am certainly not ready to announce that we have a great quarterback.

Except make them up. Well, you could make them up but you would lose all credibility.

Originally Posted by NJChiefs

... Now I know we're not playing in a fantasy league, and we are 3-0, but ultimately our goal is to win a division and Super Bowl.

I agree. The only stat that matters is wins and losses, and who has the best winning percentage in the last 3 seasons? Oh, that's right. Alex Smith!

Originally Posted by NJChiefs

Until i see some downfield accuracy, I will continue to have my doubts that this is anything more than a nice three game stretch.

You're right. it's an anomaly. it's unsustainable. You can't possibly go, say, 13-3 with a QB like Alex---Unless you are the 49ers. That's what they did in 2011. They also came within 4 points of going to the Super bowl.

The next season they started out 6-2 before Smith got hurt and lost his job to Kaepernick. They actually did slightly worse with Colin, going 5-2-1 the rest of the way en route to a the Super bowl.

Originally Posted by NJChiefs

We are winning because of our defense and turnover differential.

How did the 49ers win so many games with Alex? in 2011 and 2012 they were 2nd in the NFL in points allowed. Where are the Chiefs? 1st. In 2011 they were 6th in turnover ratio and in 2012 they were 1st. Where are the Chiefs? 1st.

The 49ers were ranked low in passing yards both years, but they had a strong running game with Frank Gore eating up clock and grinding out yards. I'll take Jamaal Charles over Gore any day.

Originally Posted by NJChiefs

... Can anyone name off the top of their head a Super Bowl winner this century without a marquee quarterback and highly ranked offense ... oh ... ok ... Trent Dilfer.

You're right. You can't win a Super Bowl with a game manager like Smith or Dilfer unless you have a great defense. We do.

Now I'm not saying we are going to get to the Super Bowl, this year. I think we need to get better in several areas and are probably a year or two away.

But I'm not saying we can't get to the Super Bowl with Alex Smith at quarterback, either.

***Official Chiefs Crowd Game Thread Starter***

This space is reserved for something that has nothing whatsoever to do with MatthewsChiefs. (Whoever THAT is!)